Francesca Cuzzocrea, Larcan R and Romeo C
University of Messina, Italy
Posters & Accepted Abstracts: Surgery Curr Res
A Psychological program for surgery preparation, in which young patients were informed and prepared to surgical procedures in a manner appropriate to their age, was very efficacy on enhancement of coping strategies (1). Childrenâ??s Anxiety is related to the presence of parents in the hospitalization period (2). This is particularly evident when parents are themselves anxious (3-4). The purpose of this study is to evaluate the effectiveness of a psychological preparation to reduce anxiety of patients and their mothers and to support childrenâ??s compliance to anesthetic induction. Methodology & Theoretical Orientation: Fifty children and their mothers were selected. Half of them followed psychological program during all surgical phases, with the other half did not receive any psychological support. Child anxiety was assessed using mYPAS; compliant behaviors with Induction Compliance Checklist; mothersâ?? anxiety with Amsterdam Pre-Operative Anxiety and Information Scale. Children and mothers watched a puppet show representing interactive story (created ad hoc) of teddy bear Benny: this story not only traces in a playful way the most important moments of the surgical iter, but also gives to children and their mothers some suggestions to address them properly and improve their own coping strategies (5). Findings: Children of the first group were less anxious and more cooperative in hospitalization period and during anesthesia induction than others. The program was also more efficient in reducing mothersâ?? anxiety. Finally, mothers of the group 1 have highly evaluated the program. Conclusion & Significance: Preparing children through playful dramatization of the operative procedure, manipulation of medical instruments and psychologistâ??s support may be useful in pediatric surgery structures. Starting from this experience a cartoon was realized and at the moment an experimentation study is carrying out. We want verify if giving information about the main phases of hospitalization can reduce anxiety even in absence of psychologists.
Francesca Cuzzocrea has her expertise in evaluation and improving the health and wellbeing. More specifically she has involved in the educational field with particular reference behavioural analysis. She has, therefore, designed and built some parent training of parents of disabled people and families at risk. In cooperation with the Pediatric Surgery Unit of University Hospital of Messina directed by Prof. Carmelo Romeo, Prof. Larcan and Prof. Cuzzocrea verify the efficacy of this psychological support to ensure continuous improvement in hospital practices, always with the main aim of reducing the emotional distress and promoting the welfare of children and parents. For these reasons, they have also developed a specific interest in “Paediatric interventions” to guarantee well-being in typically and untypically child development and to prevent behavioural problems through the parent education.
